Homemade Soap Tutorial

 

I shared this post over a year ago on another blog.  I love using my homemade soap so I thought I'd share it here!

This past Friday I spent the day with a dear friend and she showed me how to make homemade soap! I had been researching and trying to learn about making my own soap but I was a little nervous about trying it myself, so when I realized I knew someone who made soap I jumped on the opportunity to learn.

There are many different ways to make soap, different recipes, and you can be creative to your hearts content with how you'd like to personalize each batch of soap with scents or liquids or add-ins. I'm looking forward to making more batches in the future but for now here is what we did:

We made a couple batches, the first was made with raspberry tea (for the liquid), melonberry scent and we added dried raspberry leaves for look and texture.
The second batch we used coffee (for the liquid), vanilla extract for added scent and coffee grounds.

The recipe we used:

4 c. Water (or goat milk or herbal tea)
Stainless Steel Container
48 oz. Shortening (non-hydrogenated)
32 oz. Coconut Oil
16 oz. Olive Oil
12 oz. Lye (slightly heaping 1 1/4 c.)

(*have vinegar on hand to neutralize any lye that gets on skin. *Coconut oil makes it lather nicely and makes the soap harder)

First get everything together.

Grease pan, waxed paper or molds with extra shortening.

Cut shortening & coconut oil into smaller chunks to make them easier to add.

Put 4 c. liquid into pot (water or tea at room temp., goat milk cold.

Carefully pour lye into liquid.

**Never pour liquid onto the lye and wear gloves to protect your skin. If the lye touches your skin flush with vinegar immediately. Also, because of the chemical reaction between the liquid and lye and the fumes that it creates you may want to do this part outside.

Stir carefully with a stick blender.
The chemical reaction from the lye & water heats the liquid.


Add the shortening a little at a time while stirring.

Add coconut oil at room temperature and continue stirring.

Add olive oil and continue stirring.

Add any extras such as oats, essential oils, spices, etc.


Use stick blender to stir until soap begins to "trail" or "trace".
Be watching carefully as it sets up quickly and you want to pour into pan or mold while still liquid.

Finally, pour into greased mold or pan.

Cover with a lid and blanket so it cools slowly.
Check every 30 minutes.

Cut into bars when it is solid enough.
Cover again until soap is completely solid.
When soap is completely hard, stack and let them cure for at least 2 weeks before using.
Enjoy!

An Unexpected New Favorite Snack

Recently I headed on a jet plane with my baby to Denver for a special friend's wedding.  I headed out a few days before the wedding so I could spend a little time with her family who I also consider to be my family as well! 

Anyways one afternoon we were heading out the door to get things ready for the wedding when the mother of the bride stopped to get a quick snack before we headed out.  She grabbed a bag that had cut up bell peppers and she grabbed a jar of peanut butter.  Then she asked me if I wanted to try it, and lets just say I was a bit skeptical to say the least.  I almost walked out the door without taking a bite but let me just say I would have been the one really missing out!

I could hardly believe a bell pepper with a little bit of peanut butter spread on it could taste SO good!

Well, when I got home and went grocery shopping I made sure to pick up some bell peppers and I shared this new snack idea with my kiddos who also loved it.  Score! 

So simple, a bell pepper with a little bit of natural peanut butter or almond butter spread on it and there you have a great healthy and yummy snack that everyone can enjoy!

Go ahead, try it!  I promise you won't be disappointed!

Pleasantly Surprised

Have I told you lately how much I love juicing?!  Nope, not lately enough.  Because I do.  I love juicing.  (check out my other favorite juices here) And I love the way I feel after drinking a glass of fresh juice.  You can't even begin to compare it to 'juice' that you buy in the store.  Even if it says 100% juice it's still lost so many of the nutrients that you get from fresh juice.  And when you juice you have the added benefit of adding in vegetables.  I try to keep my ratios 60% to 80% veggies to 40% to 20% fruits. 

Thus let me introduce to you the 'green juice'

Yeah that's right... green juice.

Okay I love juicing but I had not been brave enough to try a green juice.  I mean really, how good could it really taste?  It's mostly veggies... like kale veggies... Let's just say I was skeptical.  I love my green smoothie that you can check out here, but it has coconut milk in it!

Well, I finally braved the green juice... and... it was good!  No, not just good, it was great! 

I had no idea!

Now I'm not saying that you should go and drink a glass of green juice after you have a glass of extra chocolaty chocolate milk but that's the whole point of juicing anyway... health benefits and better choices. 

So here's my new green juice recipe that is totally worth trying for yourself.  You just might be pleasantly surprised just like I was!

Juice:
6 Kale leaves
5 Celery stalks
1 Cucumber
2 Green Apples
1/2 Lemon
1 piece of Ginger


Oh, and my kids loved it!

Juicing

Finally!  I found my long lost juicer amongst the basements chaos!  It was lost but now its found and I can start juicing again!  Most days I juice in the morning and enjoy a delicious 'green smoothie' for lunch.  You can check out my Green Smoothie recipe here!

The health benefits of juicing are huge.  The amount of fruits and vegetables you can consume from juicing them is far greater than the amount you could eat in one day and as a result your body can quickly absorb a dense amount of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients.

There are unlimited combinations for juicing.  So have fun with it!

Here's a juice recipe that a friend of mine, Lisa, shared on Facebook.  It was fabulous!

Juice: (makes approx. 32 oz.)
4 Oranges peeled
1 Papaya peeled and de-seeded
4-6 (small/medium) Carrots
1 Sweet Potato
1 Parsnip

*I have found that substituting the Papaya with a Mango is a great option as well.  Due to the prices here for papayas I can only buy them every so often and mangos are a bit less expensive. 
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This is one that my kids really liked!

Juice: (makes approx. 32 oz.)
Large handful of Spinach
2 Apples
2 Pears
2 Carrots
1/4 Red Cabbage
1 Beet

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Here is a sweet morning pick-me-up and another of my 'go to' juices!

Juice: (makes approx. 32 oz.)
1 Pineapple (peeled)
2 Carrots
2 Apples
4 Celery Sticks
1 Cucumber (peeled and ends cut off)

Good Morning Green Smoothie

I love starting my day off with one of two things (food wise that is) either a green smoothie or fresh juice that I've just juiced.  You can get creative with your selections of fruits and vegetables and as crazy as it may sound it really does taste great!  You should give it a try!

Here is one of my green smoothie recipes that I came up with:

1/2 c. plain Greek nonfat Yogurt
1/3 c. Coconut Milk
1/3 c. Water
1 c. fresh Spinach
1 c. Kale (stems removed)
1/3 medium Carrot shredded
1 c. Blueberries (I use frozen)
1 small Banana (I cut them up and freeze)

Add the first 6 ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth.  Then add the fruit and blend until smooth.  Enjoy!

Plain Greek nonfat Yogurt is a great substitute for regular yogurt, with about the same amount of calories per serving it can pack up to double the protein and cuts sugar and carbs in half!  And the straining process of greek yogurt removes much of the liquid whey, lactose and sugar giving it a thicker consistency.  It's de-lish!

Coconut milk is great for building up the body's immune system and is filled with vitamins, minerals and electrolytes.  Although fatty, it is mostly lauric acid which is much easier for the body to break down and metabolize, a healthy fat.  Coconut milk also makes you feel full very quickly because of its high concentration of dietary fiber.  And that's just the beginning of a long list of benefits from this 'miracle liquid'.

Kale is one amazing vegetable!  Another item with high dietary fiber, kale is also an incredible source for well-absorbed calcium and excellent source of nutrients/antioxidants such as vitamin A, K and C, folic acid, potassium and so much more.  Just add it into smoothies, salads, soups or even juice it!